“The well-being of man. . .is morally and spiritually

conditioned by a principle confirmed by divinely imposed

sanctions. Now this principle holds good generally in all

nations of every age. But its operation has often been

obscured to human eyes by the time ‘lag’ between the

moral breach and the infliction of the sanction. Whileit is

always true that the nation which has ‘sown the wind’ shall

also certainly ‘reap the whirlwind’ (Hos. 8:7), the harvest is

generally and mercifully long delayed (2 Pet. 3:9); and for

this very reason men often fail to see the causal

connection. . . .But in the case of Israel in her Mediatorial

Kingdom of history, the moral government of Jehovah was

not only declared at Sinai but also was confirmed

spectacularly in the recorded history of that kingdom by

means of divine sanctions immediately imposed.”

Alva McClain, The Greatness of the Kingdom

SUZERAINTY-VASSAL TREATIES OF THE

ANCIENT NEAR EAST

Preamble

Historical Prologue

Stipulations

Witnesses

Sanctions (Cursing/Blessing)

Precedures of Ratification & Maintenance

CONSISTENCY PROOF

P = “I am a retired USAF officer”

~P = “I am NOT a retired USAF officer”

P ^ Q = Either “I am a retired USAF officer” Or

“The moon is made of cheese”

~P is true as well as P

Q must be true (any nonsense proposition can

be show to be true once contradictions are

allowed)

UNBELIEF SWALLOWING UP A BIT OF

THE WORD OF GOD

A portion of the Word

of God presented to

unbelief

Unbelief

reinterpreting the

Word of God

within its own

categories

“Unbelief controls my interpretation of the situation”

UNBELIEF FORCED INTO A CONTRAST IN

MANY AREAS SIMULTANEOUSLY

A portion of the

Word of God

presented to

unbelief as part

of a network

Unbelief

challenged at

multiple

points

“Word of God controls my interpretation of the situation”